Insights And Expertise

A few weeks ago, I took part in a very interesting discussion in Munich on what digitalization means for industry, i.e. industry 4.0. It included around 15 German industry leaders (large “Mittelstand”, industrial companies) grappling with various aspects of...

These days, the Intersolar fair is taking place in Munich. It has been the lead fair for the global solar boom and has become an icon of the energy transition. It is also one of the best places to take the pulse of the future energy industry. This time, there was a...

I spent the last week back in India, where I have lived for seven years before. During my visit, I discussed India’s economic situation with both business partners and friends. I often simply ask: “In your view, is India’s economy going in the right...

Globally, utility-scale solar installations strongly outpace rooftop ones: more than 60% of current installed capacity consists of ground-mounted projects greater than 5MW, feeding directly to the grid. No matter which major market one looks at, utility-scale projects...

For anyone hopeful of the global energy system’s transition to a more sustainable paradigm, solar energy is a key part of the solution. For most people envisioning such a transition, what comes to mind first is millions of solar panels upon the rooftops of houses,...

We are currently in the midst of the world’s largest human migration. It takes place mainly within countries, as a shift from the rural areas to the cities. This is most pronounced in poor and rapidly developing parts of Africa and Asia. New cities spring up....

Over the past few years, as the German solar market has slowed to a steady, unsubsidised pace, India has emerged as one of the most dynamic new markets. It wants to build as much as 40 GW rooftop solar by 2022 and a total of 100 GW. Is the German solar story a success...

The energy world is changing fast. Investments into renewable energy are outpacing investments into traditional energy. The incumbents, unused to this pace of change and tied down by large asset bases and long-term investment strategies, are struggling. The first who...

At the “Energy for Tomorrow” conference in Paris, last week, one of the core discussions in the energy industry was: is a low carbon world a challenge of deployment or one of innovation? In other words: do we already have the technologies we need (e.g....